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Vizard
Information Originally known as the Seireitei Outlaws, The Vizard are a mysterious group comprised of exiled Shinigami and Humans who have obtained Hollow powers. Their numbers have always been small while their membership has flucuated a great deal, and they are generally considered to be the only neutral party in the supernatural wars that define Bleach: The Beginning. While the group rejects the idea of having a leader, members who've been in the faction longer and have enhanced their powers typically have more influence than others, with surviving founders Judah Williams and Takeo Ki directing many of the groups actions while rarely involving themselves in the operations of other members. The Vizard in B:TB are similar to canonical Vizard in that they have a loose alliance with Kisuke Urahara and as a whole, the group has no single goal. Attitudes towards other factions vary from member to member, but decisions to actually help or hurt another faction are conducted through democratic vote, which is the basis for all team decisions. History 100 years before the main storyline of B:TB, Central 46 ordered the execution of several high-ranking Shinigami due to their Hollowfication at the hands of Kisuke Urahara. Urahara alleged that this crime was actually committed by then-Vice Captain Sosuke Aizen, but Central 46 didn't believe him. Due to Sosuke Aizen's death near the conclusion of the Seireitei Invasion that saw two Vasto Lorde destroy Seireitei, the truth of the case may never be known. Urahara fled to the Human World with the Hollowfied Shinigami, who managed to stabilize and even control their conditions to a point. This group, the first to call themselves The Vizard, left for parts unknown after the Seireitei Invasion. Takae Kuchiki would later insinuate that these Vizard played a role in the sacking of Seireitei, but even he couldn't discern exactly what it was, or "who they were playing for". Although Aizen trusted Takae Kuchiki with several treasonous tasks during his time in the 5th Division almost a hundred years after the creation of the first Vizard, he was never part of Aizen's inner circle, and had to reach his own conclusions about Aizen's hollowfication process through deduction and research. When Kuchiki set about staging his own covert insurrection and sought to create his own "perfect soldiers", his operation was initially unsuccessful because of Kuchiki's inexperience with the sciences that were integral to creating a stable Vizard, such as biology and genetics. He traced the location of the original Vizard to an abandoned warehouse and opted to use it as his personal laboratory. He corrupted two 12th Division scientists into scouting and experimenting on live test subjects in addition to forcing Jikido, a renegade 12th Division scientist, into creating a flawless process of creating Hollowfied Shinigami. The results were mixed; while Kuchiki failed to develop a flawless process, his treacherous science team used their research to create the White Hollow virus. Although White Hollow was a weapon of mass destruction within itself, Kuchiki ordered that hollowfication experiments continue. Feeling that they were close to a breakthrough, Kuchiki's science team targetted Judah Williams and Seiji Shihoun, the former being a Shinigami noted for his rebellious streak and tremendous spiritual potential and the latter being noted for being a "soft" noble. In Kuchiki's mind, these two subjects were ideal because they had an estimated 75% chance of surviving the process due to their potentials and "noone would miss them." Judah and Seiji both survived the new process, and during their captivity, they found that they'd begun an evolution. Seiji's speed was three times faster than it had ever been, which is saying much for a Shihoun, and Judah found that he could manipulate spiritual matter and even convert it into raw, undiluted, and destructive reiatsu. Judah and Seiji concealed these evolutions long enough to finally blindside their captors and escape to Seireitei while vowing to each other to never reveal to others what happened to them. Two months passed, and in that time, Judah and Seiji learned to control their powers and hid the truth from their superiors. When White Hollow was unleashed upon the Three Worlds, Judah and Seiji fled Seireitei for the old warehouse, believing that they were somehow the source of the virus. The two Shinigami were quickly labelled deserters, and debated suicide, as honor often demands. They ultimately decided to live as doomed fugitives, devoting what time they believed they had left to eradicating White Hollow. Takeo Ki, a human trained in the ninja arts, and Yacimitsu, a human witch, were among the millions of humans infected with the mysterious and incurable White Hollow virus. When Judah and Seiji came upon the humans separately, they felt responsible for the two impending deaths, and shared their Shinigami powers with the dying humans at the precise moment of their deaths in the hope of saving their lives. These actions not only saved Takeo and Yachimitsu, but it imbued them with both Shinigami powers and an ability to evolve that was very similar to Judah and Seiji's. Upon Jikido's return to the warehouse, he decided to help the group that was now known publically as The Seireitei Outlaws, a group that the Takae Kuchiki-controlled Central 46 would declare "Seireitei's most wanted". Jikido confirmed to the Seireitei Outlaws that Hollowfication was incurable for many reasons, the primary reason being that his Hollowfication process simply exploited "Hollow DNA" that was present in every Shinigami and didn't add new genetic code, however, adding to or removing genetic code is scientifically impossible. He also elaborated on Takae Kuchiki's plan, and that the four of them represented x-factors in that plan. The outlaws agreed that while exile was heartbreaking, it was merely the price they paid for the great power that they'd always desired. Jikido also informed them that Kade, a Shinigami, had been sentenced to die, a setup by Takae Kuchiki and his Central 46. Near this time, the Seireitei Outlaws were publically referred to as the Vizard, yet another propaganda scheme on the behalf of Takae Kuchiki to make the four fugitives into a "masked army of terrorists" that were responsible for the White Hollow outbreak. Accepting this name "because it sounded cool", the Vizard resolved to rescue him and expose Takae Kuchiki. The evening before Kade's execution, Takae revealed that he'd used the "perfect" Hollowfication method on himself, and hollowfied the imprisoned Kade. When Byakuya personally rescued Kade from the Pit of Hollow, Takae's backup-plan was revealed: knowing that the stress of a public execution would make Kade's condition unstable, he allowed Byakuya to rescue Kade, whom was overtaken by his Inner Hollow. Kade nearly killed Byakuya, however, the Vizard arrived and used their own Inner Hollows to subdue Kade. Takae Kuchiki escaped, and empathizing with their plight, Byakuya Kuchiki told the founding Vizard "if you can leave Seireitei before I reach the alarm bell, I won't kill you." The Vizard made it out using the same Backdoor Butterflies that they'd used to enter Seireitei. It was Kade's pre-Hollowfication blood that was used to synthesize a cure to White Hollow, as Kade was one of the 0.001% of the Three Worlds population that was immune to White Hollow. The five founding Vizard established a restaurant in Karakura called Nephilim's Fall, which served as a neutral sanctuary to Arrancar, Shinigami, Humans, Quincy, and Bount. Hollows were not welcome. Nephilim's Fall sponsored several events, such as a bikini contest in which primarily Shinigami and Humans participated in. Unfortunately, internal strife soon formed between the Vizard, who were growing in number. Opinions about the direction of the group, their goals, motivations, and alliances caused an unspoken yet noticable schism between the group, even as the Seireitei Civil War occured. Setting aside differences of opinion for the opporunity to finally crush Takae Kuchiki, the Vizard aided the Gotei 13 in their task of eliminating Takae Kuchiki's corrupt Central 46. Central 46 commissioned the creation of a Vizard Task Force which managed to capture Seiji, though he was able to escape with the aid of Rikura, the only Shinigami that the Vizard unaminously knew as an ally. Central 46 also employed the expertise of a being only known as The Nerd Hollow in order to improve upon Takae's perfect hollowfication process and create the Vizard Killers. Unfortunately for Central, The Nerd Hollow's expertise with Shinigami physiology wasn't as keen as he said, and accepted the position because he liked dissecting Shinigami. By the time Central realized this, it was too late. The Vizard Killers were more powerful than the Vizards themselves, but they proved to be very unstable, as they could not revert to their regular forms after transformation, they were impossible to control, and only six of the 101 test subjects even survived the process. One of the Vizard Killers even suffered a fatal heart attack while in his hollowed form due to the stress that the form placed on her body. The Vizard Killers were no match for the combined strength of the Vizard, who'd grown rather powerful, and the Shinigami. The Vizard fractured after the civil war with Kade, Yachimitsu, and Raina, a hollowfied human, leaving Karakura. Judah, Seiji, and Takeo were the only three founders who remained in Karakura Town, opting to train a second generation of Vizards. Of the second generation, only two Vizards remain: Tachi Omoki and Hisao Tsukitoko. The Vizard, along with the Humans, Shinigami, Bount, Quincy, and Arrancar were invited to the Eterna Summitt during Operation Limbo; the Shinigami invasion of Hueco Mundo. The Vizard only wanted to fortress so that it could be bartered for something of equal value to the fortress, which was extremely valuable within itself. Takeo followed up on the theory that Quincy soul-destruction tore a hole in the veil between the Human World and Hueco Mundo by shattering the Eterna's Well of Souls, releasing the thousands of souls trapped therein and restoring supernatural balance enough for the "veil to patch itself". This action would lead the Vizard and newly-formed Espada to a war which lasted several months. Amidst this war, the Vizard were subject to repeated attacks by the Human World's Belial Group, which along with Hueco Mundo's Paragona Familia and Seireitei's secret brotherhood, The Order of the White Wyvern, were power bases/fronts for the Morningstar Shogunate, Takae Kuchiki's "revolutionary" movement to bring unity to all Three Worlds under one flag. The Order of the White Wyvern used its influence to have the Vizard warehouse sacked while leaving Soifon vulnerable. Even though dozens of witnesses saw Takae murder Soifon, the Vizard were ultimately blamed for it, and were taken into Shinigami custody. Byakuya Kuchiki believed that the Vizard were innocent, but it hardly mattered because the Seireitei nobility had already made up their minds about the Vizard. It didn't matter if they were good or evil, they had already grown powerful enough to contend with the Gotei 13's best captains, and that kind of power couldn't be allowed to run unchecked by the Shinigami. The Vizard never went on trial, however, Byakuya Kuchiki expressed to the Vizard that if they did, the human Vizard would be drained of their powers while the hollowfied Shinigami would never be tried, and would instead be assassinated long before a trial. Sympathy for the Vizard by this time was considerable, and Shinigami morale was already low following the defection of Mayuri Kurotsuchi to the Morningstar Shogunate and the murders of Soifon and Unohana. While the Vizard were being transported across Seireitei, The First Hollow and his modsoul guide, Ameet, inexplicably appeared in Seireitei and opened a portal, giving the Vizard the option of escaping even though escape meant that the Vizard would again be known as terrorists. The Vizard present agreed with Byakuya Kuchiki in that regardless of what they did, Seireitei could no longer allow the Vizards to exist. The Vizard escaped Seireitei and established a new home within Karakura Town, opting for a "familiar battleground with a lot of bushes to hide behind" against moving elsewhere in the world. Methods of Hollowfication To become a Vizard in B:TB, a player must reach Shikai level and then apply to receive the Inner Hollow transformation, which is both free and is considered a letter of intent to join the Vizard faction. A player must be in the Vizard to recieve and keep Inner Hollow; if a player leaves the Vizard, they also lose Inner Hollow. Inner Hollow has multiple restrictions. When writing a Vizard faction app, players must include how they gained an Inner Hollow. Players typically come up with their own unique methods, however, the following are considered the primary methods of getting an Inner Hollow in B:TB: White Hollow Mutation - The first and most agressive strain of White Hollow was cured, but that doesn't mean the virus itself is extinct. White Hollow afflictions are still common in the lowest Rukongai districts, and every now and again, Seireitei institutes a quarantine around the lower districts to keep the sick away from the healthy, not cure them. Some White Hollow strains are covertly engineered and used as a form of rudimentary biological warfare between warring Rukongai, and some even suggest the Central 46 uses it for "population control". A Shinigami that does not die from White Hollow may instead suffer permanent hollowfication, which can be stabilized with the right physical therapy and other treatments. Unfortunately, they may still be a White Hollow carrier. Body Possession - A Shinigami (and only a Shinigami) that is possessed by a Hollow with a possessive ability may have their genetic code completely altered by the being that has taken over their body. If the Hollow refuses to "leave" and the Shinigami learns how to conquer the Hollow's presence through either tremendous spiritual power or sheer force of will, the Shinigami can quite literally imprison the Hollow within the Shinigami's body and take their powers for themselves. A stable, albeit extremely risky form of Hollowfication; the moment the host Shinigami lets their guard down, the Hollow will take over again regardless of the situation. Scientific Experimentation - Many have attempted to master a perfect process of Hollowfication, and nearly all have failed. Even Takae Kuchiki, whom has arguably become closer than anyone to creating a perfect scientific process than any of his predecessors has claimed that it is like "cheating death when you're dead", and "playing Russian Roulette for eternity". It is possible that Takae holds this point of view because of the wide range of success and failure with scientific Hollowfication--the Vizard Killers were a complete failure, yet Kuchiki's own power surpasses General Yamamoto's. Scientific hollowfication is the most common method of undergoing hollowfication, but the transformations are unstable at best, ''test subjects are difficult to secure, and experimentation facilities are nearly impossible to conceal. '' Imbuement - Under the right circumstances, a Vizard can give their powers to a human or a Shinigami, hollowfying them. The right circumstances vary from person to situation, as exampled by Judah and Seiji's being able to imbue Yachi and Takeo. Judah and Seiji did not possess the ability to do this to anyone; instead Yachi and Takeo's Hollowfication was the result of being afflicted by White Hollow and receiving Shinigami powers at the precise moment of their deaths from it. Judah and Seiji did not predict that Hollowfication would occur. Natural Evolution - A Shinigami may naturally gain Hollow powers throughout the course of their physical growth. This is extremely rare, with The First Hollow possibly being the only being in the history of the universe to experience it. Natural evolution is entirely unpredictable, however, it is the most stable of all Hollowfication forms and leads to the most powerful forms of Hollowfication. Category:Faction Page